You know when we were little kids and we watched television and sat for hours watching shows that depicted high-school “love”? We would sit and watch shows where the jock would fall in love with the girl who never spoke, and she would take down the head cheerleader. You remember, right?

Little did we, as naïve and impressionable 7-year-olds, know that these shows and movies would fill our heads with false expectations of what our high school-life and high-school love would be like. According to these shows, you would either be a jock or a nerd, you would either be part of the cheer squad or a social outcast; you would either fit in or be on the outside looking in. We were led to believe that everyone would know what everyone else was doing, and we would have evil teachers who made our lives terrible. We all thought love stories would go a certain way.

Now most of us can admit that the only time a guy goes the extra mile to ask a girl out is during prom season. No high-school guy is going to sing a ballad in front of the entire school just to get a girl to go on an everyday date with him. All the girls aren’t going to have a party before one of their friends has a date, and no evil ex’s are waiting to dump pigs’ blood on you.

In reality, a guy just asks a girl out, or a girl asks a guy out, and they just go on a date. Maybe they go on a few more, maybe they don’t; it’s between them. This is unlike in the movies where every student and teacher is eagerly awaiting the news of the big date.

Also of note is the fact that most couples break up. That’s right, high school is full of confusion and hormones that fog our heads with false feelings of “love” which are further fueled by our favorite bands or rappers writing love songs and pictures of “perfect” couples all over our Instagram feed. We were misled as children and we are misled now. It’s true that some people marry their high-school sweethearts, but this is rarely the case. The reality is that a breakup hurts both parties.

We can all admit that relationships are never how the media depicts them. Things get messy, people don’t always make up, and people get hurt and some are never the same. Nothing is like the love you see on your screen.